Spring resource phenology and t iming of Songbird Migration across the Gulf of Mexico
Studies in avian biology(2015)
摘要
Migratory songbirds are advancing their arrival to breeding areas in response to climatic warming at temperate latitudes. Less is understood about the impacts of climate changes outside the breeding period. Every spring, millions of migrat- ing songbirds that overwinter in the Caribbean and Central and South America stop to rest and refuel in the first available habitats after cross - ing the Gulf of Mexico (hereafter, the Gulf). We used capture data from a long- term banding sta- tion (20 years: 1993 to 2012) located on the north- ern coast of the Gulf to assess the passage timing of 17 species making northward migrations into eastern North America. We further assessed spring resource phenology as meas ured by normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) on nonbreed- ing ranges and en route. We tested the hypotheses that spring passage timing has advanced during the past two decades and that annual variability in passage timing into eastern North America is related to spring resource phenology on station- ary nonbreeding ranges and during passage south of the Gulf. Further, we assessed whether annual variability in resource phenology south of the Gulf was a good indicator of the conditions that migrants encountered upon first landfall in east - ern North America. We found no trend in migra- tion timing for species that migrate from South America and annual variability in their passage timing was unrelated to environmental conditions in nonbreeding ranges or en route. Species that migrate from Central America and the Caribbean delayed arrival by 2 to 3 days over the 20-year period and arrived later during years when con- ditions were dryer in nonbreeding ranges and passage areas south of the Gulf. Further, year- to-year variability in spring resource phenology in nonbreeding ranges and passage areas south of the Gulf were not good indicators of resource phenology upon arrival in eastern North America. Therefore, despite the fact that many migrant species have been arriving increasingly earlier to breeding grounds, the passage timing of 17 species into eastern North America has either not changed or is slightly later, due to drying spring conditions in Central America and the Caribbean. Our results suggest that Nearctic- Neotropical migratory birds adjust the rate of migration primarily within east- ern North America and, in light of warmer tem- peratures in the temperate zone and earlier arrival timing to breeding ranges, species that overwin- ter in Central America and the Caribbean may be increasing the speed of migration within eastern North America.
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